Turkey Point shuts down unit for work

A Turkey Point nuclear reactor was shut down to allow Florida Power & Light workers to work on a turbine, a spokesman from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Wednesday.

Nuclear reactor No. 4 had lost steam, but no radioactive material was lost as the leak was on the non-nuclear turbine side, said NRC spokesman Joey Ledford, who works out of Atlanta.

The incident was reported to the federal regulatory agency as a non-emergency, Ledford said.

FPL shut down the reactor at the nuclear plant just east of Homestead on Sunday for routine maintenance repairs and notified the federal regulator agency as required, utility spokesman Greg Brostowicz said.

By Wednesday afternoon, the reactor was still largely shut down, he said, as workers continued their maintenance work on the turbine.